MONTREAL — Marie-Jo remembered Denis Blanchette on Wednesday as someone who willingly filled in for her on a job, even though he had already been working steadily. The father of a young daughter himself, he sympathized when she had to pick up her child at school.

Then the woman, who didn’t give her last name, said she went to vote in the election which would be forever marked by her colleague’s death.

She bristled at suggestions that the slaying of the man she called her best friend had any political overtones when he was fatally shot by a gunman trying to crash premier-elect Pauline Marois’ victory party.

“Stop with the politics, OK?” shouted Marie-Jo at one point to a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening outside the club where Blanchette was killed. “There was nothing political about this. A damned mental case killed my friend.”

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To his friends, Blanchette wasn’t a symbol of political violence or tensions between English and French in Quebec.

He was a dedicated father, a rock-steady colleague and a good buddy.

And Wednesday evening those friends — and hundreds who didn’t even know the 48-year-old lighting technician — packed a downtown Montreal street to remember him in an act of togetherness that sought to sweep aside the political overtones that tainted the last moments of his life.

Finger-pointing had followed the killing, which also saw another man wounded and an attempt to burn the back of the building where thousands had gathered to celebrate the Parti Quebecois’ return to power.

Some people blamed the incident on tensions in the wake of Marois’ vows to toughen language laws when a suspect arrested by police proclaimed anglophones were rising up. Others blamed unrest from student protests.

Marie-Jo would have nothing of it.

“He gave his life for $15 an hour.” He was a hard worker and proud of it.

Marie-Jo, who worked with Blanchette at Productions des Grande Bambou, described how technicians there are a close knit group, sometimes spending 80 to 90 hours a week with each other.

“We’re a family. Today, we’ve lost a member of our family,” she said.

Blanchette was the father of three-year-old daughter who lives in Rouyn-Noranda.

“She lost her father today,” Marie-Jo thundered, her anger at the unjust loss wrestling with her obvious grief.

Another friend, who gave no name and pulled a baseball cap low over his face, cracked a beer and took a sip in a toast to his friend before placing it in a sidewalk shrine outside the club where people had laid flowers and other tributes, including technicians’ cables.

Despite the feelings of brotherhood, a few people groaned when one of the organizers said he wanted to address them in English near the start of the gathering but that was not a prevalent feeling.

“We are here today, united as a family, crying for what we love — Quebec,” said George Stamatis, one of the organizers of the vigil. “Yesterday was a sad night for Quebec.

“We are crying here today because this act does not represent any of our values …. This act does not represent democracy, this act does not represent who we are as Quebecois.”

Stamatis, who didn’t know Blanchette, helped organize the event via social media. Besides the testimonials, people also observed a moment of silence.

Stamatis, who said he helped organize response teams in the aftermath of a gunman’s rampage at Montreal’s Dawson College in 2006, said afterward he was stunned when he learned what had happened at the PQ celebration.

“I almost fell off my chair,” said Stamatis, who was watching election coverage with a friend. “I couldn’t believe it…. I can barely stand thinking about it.”

SUSPECT ‘NEVER SHOWED ANY SIGNS OF VIOLENCE’

The suspect in the fatal shooting at Tuesday’s Parti Québécois victory party is a kilt-wearing fishing-lodge owner who may have learned of a business setback hours before gunshots rang out, it emerged Wednesday.

Richard Henry Bain, 62, is the owner of Les Activités Rick Activities, a fishing camp on Lake Wade in La Conception, near the resort of Mont-Tremblant. A friend and neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, described Mr. Bain as gentle and friendly.

“He never showed any signs of violence,” said the man, who runs a nearby lodge.

A provincial police spokesman said he expects a court arraignment Thursday. A hospital statement said Wednesday the suspect was undergoing an evaluation.

The suspect in Tuesday’s attack was wearing a housecoat and black facemask when he was tackled by police. He shouted about an awakening of English-speaking Quebecers as he was whisked away: “Les anglais se reveillent … There’s going to be f—-ing payback.”

Police say they cannot rule out the possibility that premier-designate Pauline Marois was the shooter’s target. While the suspected gunman was only metres away, he never actually made it past the doorway into the room where Ms. Marois was speaking.

“At this point, we can’t establish whether or not, ultimately, the elected premier was a target,” said Lt. Guy Lapointe of the Quebec provincial police.

While observers wondered how an armed man, wearing a blue bathrobe, was able to enter the venue where the PQ leader was making her victory speech, police revealed that the suspect had probably never in fact made it inside. The victim had been brought inside by police.

It also became clear that many more people might have been killed had the assailant’s assault rifle not jammed after the second victim was shot.

A co-worker of the man who died told LCN news that he was at the rear of the Metropolis club when the gunman fired a few shots and his rifle jammed.

“We were about 12 feet away — if it didn’t jam, we could have all been (hit). I lost a work colleague and another one was seriously injured because of this psychopath.”

Ms. Marois urged people not to draw any political conclusions from the event: “It is an isolated event and it does not represent who we are … Quebec is not a violent society. One act of folly cannot change this.”

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay told reporters that “what this man said is not related to the English community.”

Mr. Bain’s Facebook page says he is originally from Montreal. He has five Facebook friends, down from nine Wednesday morning. A pamphlet for his camp offers catch-and-release fishing, helicopter rides, rides in the “Mickey Moose” truck. Mr. Bain is shown wearing a kilt, with the caption “36 years in business!”

Mr. Bain was in constant contact with officials at the local municipality over the past several months as he tried to expand his business, according to the village manager.

He had applied to add licences for hunting and ice fishing at his lodge, Marie-France Brisson said in an interview.

The village received a copy of a letter addressed to Mr. Bain from a biologist conducting an environmental assessment. It said the ice-fishing licence would require further study.

The village received its copy Tuesday — hours before the shooting. Ms. Brisson said Mr. Bain may have received the letter the same day.

“He was a man that was calm and polite who could also be frank,” Ms. Brisson said. “He could sometimes be frustrated (with the bureaucratic process).”

There is no evidence of any link between the man’s business interests and the shooting.

Maurice Plouffe, mayor of La Conception, said he was very surprised to learn Mr. Bain had been arrested.

“I did sense a lot of frustration on his part, but for him to (allegedly) act like he did, no I really didn’t expect that. He’s the kind of guy who, when he talks, is pretty hard (headed). But it’s probably part of his personality. I didn’t sense any (serious problems).”

Ms. Brisson said Mr. Bain always spoke to staff at the town hall in French and never expressed a frustration with speaking it.

Marc-Andre Cyr, the owner of a campground near Mr. Bain’s lodge, also said he never showed any anger toward French-speaking Quebecers.

Mr. Cyr said they occasionally had a beer together. They always spoke French.

“He’s someone I would meet from time to time,” he said. “We never talked politics.”

He said Mr. Bain was new to the region, and joined the local chamber of commerce about a year ago.

During Tuesday’s incident, police confiscated a handgun and weapon that carried a resemblance to an AK-47 assault rifle.

Questions about whether the whole scene could have been avoided if the firearms registry were still in force were summarily dismissed Wednesday.